Multiple programs within Ball State's College of Architecture and Planning have been listed among the nation's best, according to a new national publication.

"Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs," which based its rankings on a compilation of statistical data and surveys of architecture and planning practitioners and academics, rated Ball State's urban planning program 17th nationwide. Multiple specialty areas in urban planning were also ranked in the top 10.

• Zoning administration-fifth
• Lowest tuition-fifth
• Technology-sixth
• Land use planning - seventh

In addition, the guide ranked the architecture department's graduate program in historic preservation seventh among graduate degree programs in the preservation field.

The accolades in the inaugural publication place Ball State in with excellent company. To put the overall ranking in context, 14 of the 16 urban planning programs listed ahead of Ball State have doctoral programs, said Eric Kelly, acting chairman of the urban planning department.

"We are pleased with the credit our program is receiving from practitioners and academics around the country. It's something I believe we'll continue to improve upon," he said. "I am also pleased to see that we were in the top three in the Midwest and that we outranked all of the practice-oriented programs that I consider as our peers."

James Glass, director of the graduate historic preservation program, agreed.
 
"We are pleased to have our program ranked at this level by practitioners in the allied fields of architecture and urban planning," said Glass, director also of the Center for Historic Preservation. "The ranking reflects the immersive learning experiences that our students gain through the Center for Preservation in helping rejuvenate historic main streets of cities and towns, revitalize neighborhoods and find new uses for historic buildings."
 
For more information on the rankings, go to www.planetizen.com/guide.